Toledo Clash
AOn 14 July 2012, a gunfight broke out between the Danao Arsenal and Kananga Cartel in Toledo, Cebu. Backround The Danao Arsenal was attempting to get on a bangka to San Carlos (Negros Occidental), Negros Occidental because of the constant threats of death from the other party and the attacks on Celso Pelacio's house in Carmen and the gunfight in Cebu City both of which led up to the Toledo Clash. Prelude Kananga Cartel Estebal del Rosario, who was the leader of the Kanangan Cartel in Visayas, ordered this ambush because he knew exactly what they would do. He sent 18 of his men to conduct this ambush. They did not succeed their plan as their plan was to kill or ambush Melvin Pelacio, Jerome Salvador and Adam Penaso but they achieved none of them. Danao Arsenal Adam Penaso took the remaining 16 of his remaining thugs to Toledo to protect the Pelacio family's escape. In addition, more security included RJ Pelacio, Melvin Pelacio and Jerome Salvador. The family in total included RJ Pelacio, Melvin Pelacio, Agnes Pelacio, Princess Pelacio, Yolanda Pelacio, Regine Pelacio and Renano Pelacio. Statistics Police Soon after the gunfight began, the news reached Alex Arao of the Toledo City Police Force but the police were bribed by the Kananga Cartel. Arao was later fired and murdered because of this. The word reached out to Julian Pilar and Andres Atillo at 12 PM when they left Cebu City for Toledo. In total, they had 17 men in 5 vehicles of which 14 survived. The only dying ones were Dato Rodriguez, Leonard Perez, Juan Caimito. Statistics Clash Preperation The Pelacio family was ready. Their first step of the trip was to get to Toledo City. Adam Penaso called and said that he and his men were there and ready to defend them. It was a little after 10 AM and they left on the jeepney. Arrival They arrived in Toledo around 12 PM. Melvin Pelacio parked next to the WE LOVE TOLEDO sign. They knew someone would be there, ready to attack them. They got out of the jeepney, ran to a bangka at a harbor. Kidnap Suddenly, a tricycle pulled up as they were crossing the street. A man came out and grabbed Princess Pelacio and Regine Pelacio and ran back to the trike and signaled the driver to go. The trike then pulled off. Melvin Pelacio shot 2 shots at the trike. It did no damage but everyone ran. Then a second trike pulled up with 2 of Adam Penaso’s men, Edwin Robledo and Rafa Juanes. Melvin Pelacio got on the trike and they pursued the other tricycle. Climax There were 4 boatmen: Jeff Mayon, Juan Santander, Oliver Espinosa and Carlos Olivarez. All of whom were a part of Adam Penaso’s men. Jeff Mayon and Carlos Olivarez got out of the boat and helped loading on the kids. Jerome Salvador gave RJ Pelacio a gun. A few men came out of a building on one of the corners. Jeff Mayon came and helped him. Then, a bangka arrived with 4 more of Adam Penaso’s men; Bono Penaso, Lorenzo Vergara, Tomas Lobregat and Edgar Tisa. They all had pistols. They got out and ran towards the building. Sniper The men from the second boat ran towards the building where the other men were. Suddenly, they were shot with an AKM assault rifle. This killed Jeff Mayon and Edgar Tisa. Reinforcements Then a big van pulled up beside Weziel Pharmacy. About 5 Kanangans came out. They shot at Lorenzo Vergara and Tomas Lobregat. It killed them. Bono Penaso was able to hide behind the corner. Bono Penaso was the son of Adam. He could not lose him. Jerome Salvador sent Oliver Espinosa and Carlos Olivarez to protect him. As they ran across Rafols Street, they shot at the 5 men from the van but Oliver Espinosa got shot. Carlos Olivarez ran as fast as he could to Bono Penaso and he made it. At this time, RJ Pelacio and Jerome Salvador hid behind a wall and constantly shot at the van. A minute later, one man came out of the van, ran towards the sea and shot his rocket launcher at Lorenzo Vergara’s boat. It exploded. Juan Santander shot him 3 times to make sure he didn’t shoot the boat the Pelacio family was on. Police Arrival The police arrived at the harbor at 13:41. The 5 vehicles made a sort of roadblock by turning the cars sideways on Rafols Street. Escape As soon as Pilar got out of the car, all of the gangsters began to run. Some onto a bangka and others onto trikes. The motorcycles chased after some fleeing tricycles. Pilar, Cuenco, Lastimoso and Bautista ran straight into the action on the west side of the street. Truck Standoff They slowly moved towards the harbor. When the corner came, Pilar looked past and saw a bunch of men running onto a bangka. A few of them were cut off by the shots and were forced to hide behind a truck. The SWAT guys shot at the truck constantly to make sure they did not leave. The police hid behind a wall for cover as some men from the boat shot them. End of Standoff A few minutes later, the 3 men behind the truck got tired of shooting and they all ran, in different directions. One of the men, Antonio Garcia, ran towards the pier and attempted to hijack a boat. He failed. Another, Aidan Pleno attempted to get on the banka, he failed because he was shot by Lastimoso. Capture of Melvin Pelacio Melvin Pelacio took off running towards the mayor’s office. Pilar, Cuenco and Lastimoso ran after him. He was extremely fast. Suddenly, out of an alley, came a tricycle. It picked him up and drove him about 5 meters more. Pilar pulled out his Glock 17 and shot the driver in the back of the head. First try. The trike skid off the road to the right, into the water. Once the police got to the place, they pointed our guns at him and arrested him. RJ Pelacio fired shots at the police but did not do any damage. Aftermath Casualties In total, the clash claimed 26 lives. 3 cops, 8 Danao Arsenal members, 9 civillians and 6 members of Kananga Cartel. 7 arrests were made, 5 Kanangans and 2 Danaoans. Kananga Cartel Despite losing 11 members, the Kananga Cartel was not greatly affected due to its gigantic size. Rico Petilla referred to the clash losses as a "Small bite of an ant". Police Alex Arao's failure to act during the clash was not unnoticed and he was fired and controversially murdered. Andres Atillo and Julian Pilar got medals from this as they had captured 1 of the 3 main targets. Danao Arsenal 14 of them made it to San Carlos. The Danao Arsenal in Cebu was abandoned and disbanded by Adam Penaso and this made Manila, Metro Manila their only hope to continue the arsenal.